Super rich are spoilt for choice in Sydney

“When you walk out of the living area it’s a level walk to the waterfront. You really are right at the water’s edge,” joint selling agent Ken Jacobs says.
AFR

by
Ben Hurley

Rare buyers with a penchant for Sydney trophy homes have some sumptuous choices available to them, now including the $40 million listing of accused murderer
Ron Medich
’s harbour-front house in Point Piper.

Despite the ongoing weakness in the housing market, Christie’s International Real Estate agent Ken Jacobs said his buyers didn’t operate to the same rules as the broader market.

“Properties like these can often create buyers who aren’t even looking but appreciate the rarity of such a property," Mr Jacobs said.

Mr Medich and his estranged wife, Odetta, are seeking expressions of interest of more than $40 million for their Wolseley Road home. It has seven bathrooms and a 30-metre harbour frontage with postcard views of the bridge and Opera House.

The home has seven bathrooms and a 30-metre harbour frontage with postcard views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
Photo: James Brickwood

“When you walk out of the living area, it’s a level walk to the waterfront," said Mr Jacobs, who is one of the selling agents.

Just up the road, recruitment specialist
Julia Ross
is seeking interest at more than $40 million for Villa del Mare, possibly the best non-waterfront home in Sydney. It sits on the high side of Wolseley Road and has harbour views from every room.

Not far away, Sir
William Tyree
is considering offers over $35 million for his Darling Point estate on Lindsay Avenue. The 1800 square metre block is very large for the waterfront, and it has a boat pen and three slipways.

Sellers at these giddy heights will be heartened by some high-end sales this year, including sprawling Palm Beach estate Kalua for $25 million.

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Ron Medich has invited expressions of interest in his Point Piper home at $40 million-plus.
Photo: Ben Rushton

But the super rich are not unaffected by market conditions. The last Sydney sale above $30 million was Point Piper mansion Villa Veneto, exchanged for $44 million in 2010.

“People are only deploying capital if there is real or perceived value," said valuer Simon Feilich from Dyson Austen. “With that you’re also going to have a weak equity market and weakening demand in that high end."

He knows of only four Sydney sales above $10 million this year – there is usually at least 10 in a quarter. The broader market will have to pick up before action returns to the “jumbo market", he says.